The use of electronic devices that transmit and/or receive large amounts of data over a communications network such as cameras, televisions and computers continues to proliferate. Data may be transferred to and from these devices by hardwired or wireless connections, or a combination thereof. Devices that are connected to a communications network via a hardwired connection often use so-called Ethernet cables and connectors as these cables and connectors can support high data rate communications with a high level of reliability. Various industry standards such as, for example, the ANSI/TIA-568-C.2 standard, approved Aug. 11, 2009 by the Telecommunications Industry Association (referred to herein as “the Category 6a standard”), set forth interface and performance specifications for Ethernet cables, connectors and channels. Ethernet connectors and cables are routinely used in office buildings, homes, schools, data centers and the like to implement hardwired, high-speed communications networks.
While hardwired Ethernet connections can provide excellent performance, the industry-standardized Ethernet plug and jack designs may not be well-suited to harsher environments that are subject to mechanical shocks, vibrations, extreme temperature changes and the like. In these more physically challenging environments, non-Ethernet connectors are generally used that may maintain good mechanical and electrical connections.
One relatively harsh environment where hardwired communications networks may be used is in automobiles and other types of vehicles, including planes, boats, etc. Communications connectors and cables that are used in automobiles are routinely subjected to high levels of vibration, wide temperature swings, and mechanical shocks, stresses and strains. Typically, single-ended communications channels and non-Ethernet connectors and cabling are used in such environments, and the cables and connectors may be rather large and heavy. For example, pin connectors and socket connectors are sometimes used in automotive applications to detachably connect two communications cables and/or to detachably connect a communications cable to a printed circuit board or electronic device, as pin and socket connections can typically maintain good mechanical and electrical connections even when used for long periods of time in harsh environments.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a conventional pin connector 10. As shown in FIG. 1, the pin connector 10 includes a housing 20 that has a plug aperture 22. The plug aperture 22 may be sized and configured to receive a mating socket connector. The pin connector 10 further includes a conductive pin array 24 that in the depicted embodiment includes eighteen conductive pins 30 that are mounted in the housing 20. Each conductive pin 30 has a first end 32 that extends into the plug aperture 22 and a second end 36 that extends downwardly from a bottom surface of the housing 20. The first end 32 of each conductive pin 30 may be received within a respective socket of a mating socket connector that is inserted into the plug aperture 22, and the second end 36 of each conductive pin 30 may be inserted into, for example, a printed circuit board (not shown).
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of eight of the conductive pins (namely conductive pins 30-1 through 30-8) that are included in the conductive pin array 24 of pin connector 10 of FIG. 1. Herein, when a device such as a connector includes multiple of the same components, these components are referred to individually by their full reference numerals (e.g., conductive pin 30-4) and are referred to collectively by the first part of their reference numeral (e.g., the conductive pins 30). Only eight of the eighteen conductive pins 30 that are included in pin connector 10 of FIG. 1 are illustrated in FIG. 2 in order to simplify the drawing and the explanation thereof.
As shown in FIG. 2, a middle portion 34 of each conductive pin 30 that connects the first end 32 to the second end 36 includes a right angled section 38. The first ends 32 of the conductive pins 30 extend along the x-direction (see the reference axes in FIG. 2) and are aligned in two rows. The second ends 36 of the conductive pins 30 extend along the z-direction and are also aligned in two rows. It will be appreciated that the remaining ten conductive pins 30 of pin connector 10 that are not pictured in FIG. 2 are aligned in the same two rows and that the conductive pins 30 in each row all have the exact same design and spacing from adjacent conductive pins 30.
FIGS. 3 and 4 are perspective views of a partially disassembled socket connector 50 that may be used in conjunction with the pin connector 10 of FIG. 1. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the socket connector 50 includes a housing 60 that includes a plurality of pin apertures 62. The housing 60 defines an open interior 64 that receives a socket contact holder 70. The housing 60 includes a side opening 66 that provides an access opening for inserting the socket contact holder 70 within the open interior 64. The side opening 66 also provides an access opening for the conductors of a communications cable (not shown) to be routed into the open interior 64 for termination within the socket contact holder 70. A locking member 68 is mounted on an exterior surface of the housing 60. The socket connector 50 may be received within the plug aperture 22 of the pin connector 10 so that each of the conductive pins 30 of the pin connector is received within a respective socket of the socket contact holder 70. The locking member 68 may be used to lock the socket connector 50 within the plug aperture 22 of the pin connector 10.
FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the socket contact holder 70. FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a socket contact 80. As shown in FIG. 5, the socket contact holder 70 includes a plurality of sockets 76 that extend from a front face 74 to the rear face 72 of the socket contact holder 70. A plurality of socket contacts 80 may be populated into the sockets 76 in the socket contact holder 70. Each socket contact 80 includes a front end 82 and a rear end 84. The front end 82 has an opening (not visible in FIG. 6) that provides access to a longitudinal cavity. The front end 82 is configured to receive and grasp a conductive pin of a mating pin connector (e.g., one of the conductive pins 30 of pin connector 10). The front end 82 may include a spring mechanism (not visible in FIG. 6) that biases a conductive component of the socket contact 80 against the conductive pin 30 of the mating pin connector 10 that is received therein in order to maintain a good mechanical and electrical contact between the conductive pin 30 and the socket contact 80. The rear end 84 of the socket contact 80 may be configured to receive a conductor of a communications cable (not shown). In the depicted embodiment, the rear end 84 of each socket 80 includes tabs that may be crimped around a respective conductor of the cable. Thus, each socket contact 80 may be used to electrically connect a conductive pin of a pin connector to a conductor of a communications cable.